Fairfax mulls new $2.76b offer for whole of business

Fairfax Media is considering a revised offer from TPG Capital and Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board of $2.76 billion for the whole of the business.

Under the new proposal, each share will be worth $1.20 – $1.25, an increase of 25 cents from the last offer, which was ill received by shareholders.

The earlier proposal offered $2.2 billion for particular assets – the real estate listings business Domain, metropolitan mastheads The Australian Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and Fairfax’s events and digital ventures.

The remaining business – including Fairfax NZ, the regional newspaper business, the 54 per cent stake in Macquarie Radio and 50 per cent stake in Stan – was to be run under a new name, while retaining all of Fairfax’s current debts.

While Fairfax management did not hand down a decision on the first proposal, it was widely expected it would be rejected.

Fairfax Media executives are currently reviewing the new proposal with the counsel of Macquarie Capital and Herbert Smith.